1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling structure with which a heat source is cooled, an image forming apparatus having the cooling structure, and an electronic apparatus having the cooling structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an example of an image forming apparatus, the temperature inside the casing of the image forming apparatus increases more than an ambient temperature (a temperature around an electronic apparatus) with heat generated by the fixing unit, the driving motor for driving various portions of the image forming apparatus, or the like. Therefore, bad influences such as fixing of wasted toner and a shortened life of the photoreceptor may be caused. Therefore, there is proposed a cooling structure for reducing the temperature inside a casing with an air intake through which outer air is suctioned from the outside of the image forming apparatus to reduce the temperature inside the casing.
According to Patent Documents 1 and 3, an air intake is provided on a front side of the casing. According to Patent Document 2, an air intake is provided inside a handle of a paper cassette for feeding papers. According to Patent Document 4, an air intake is provided on a side of a casing.
Therefore, when outer air is suctioned from the air intake, extraneous matter such as flying dust and toner may adhere to the air intake and parts in proximity to the air intake. Therefore, the extraneous matter is easily noticeable for service men and users. Therefore, the outer appearance of the image forming apparatus may be spoiled with the extraneous matter.
Since the air intakes are formed on the front and side surfaces of the casing as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 4, warm air around the casing may be suctioned. Therefore, the cooling efficiencies may be degraded.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-249156
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2008-77077
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-195357
Patent Document 4: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-283733